Chapter 949 Akasaka Mikado was destroyed! Elodie is in danger! 【5600】
Akasaka Imperial Gate is located to the west of Edo Castle, not far from Yotsuya Imperial Gate.
The French and French coalition forces came from the west, and Akasaka Mikado was located in such a position... It can be said that they directly ran into the enemy's front!
It is no exaggeration to say that Akasaka Mikado is one of the important places with the greatest defensive pressure and the most intense battles in "Thirty-six Mitsuke"!
Such an important position naturally requires a strong and trustworthy force to guard it.
At this moment, this unit is fighting bravely! Drive every enemy soldier out of Akasaka Gate!
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Edo, Akasaka Mikado——
The two armies started a fierce tug-of-war around the Goryeo Gate (the first gate) of Akasaka Imperial Gate.
One side is the tiger and wolf division that attacks forward and succeeds, vowing to break through the Akasaka Imperial Gate.
The other side was firmly nailed to the city gate, unwilling to give in even a single step.
The inside and outside of the city gate were covered with broken corpses.
A large amount of blood flowed to the ground, staining the ground and losing its original color.
The pungent smell of blood filled the air, making it difficult to breathe.
Such a scene, such a scene, silently declares the intensity of the battle.
In a matter of seconds, another wave of enemy soldiers rushed forward with great force.
With the blessing of "Decisive Battle of Yodo", the enemy's morale has been in a very strange state.
Even if they suffer extremely heavy casualties, they will not retreat easily.
Even if you are temporarily defeated, you will quickly regroup and rush forward again.
Facing this vast group of enemies, an old male voice suddenly sounded from the Goryeo gate of Akasaka Imperial Gate:
"Elodie! Let's go!"
The girl responded loudly:
"yes!"
In the next breath, an old man and a woman slid forward and bumped into enemy soldiers!
Thanks to Kondo Shusuke's careful grinding, Yamato Mamoru's blade returned to its perfect state of cutting iron as well as clay, and the captivating cold light shot into the eyes of the enemy soldiers.
Elodie takes full advantage of her petite stature, nimble steps, and quick movements.
Before the enemy soldiers could react, the golden ponytail broke into their sight.
Yamato Mamoru's stable blade was held in mid-air, frozen for a moment - the next moment, it swept out like a hurricane! Cutting out a fan-shaped arc of blood in one breath!
Before the blood arc completely dissipated, Elodie immediately struck out with a second knife, and another blood arc shot out.
Two blood arcs formed a fleeting "X" shape.
Little drops of blood fell on her cheeks, making her skin look even whiter.
To be honest, even today, she still feels worried and scared when she steps onto the battlefield.
But after holding on to Yamato and maintaining peace, and facing the vast enemy groups, all these negative emotions dissipated.
Instead, there is a strong sense of responsibility and mission!
As soon as she thought about this, her eyes became more determined, and her slashing became a bit more sharp.
Her current level of strength is far from being called a swordsman. At most, she can only be called a "master of swords."
In comparison, the swordsmanship performed by Shusuke Kondo next to her is the true skill of a swordsman!
I saw the old man clenching the Erwang Qingshi in his palm tightly, a gap appeared in his slender eyes, and wisps of fine light burst out from it.
"Old friend...help me...!"
After murmuring like this, he raised the Erwang Qingshi in his hand and assumed a green-eyed stance.
Then--
Puchi! Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!
Four cutting sounds sounded almost simultaneously.
The old man passed through the gap between the four enemy soldiers, leaving four sword lights behind him.
Before the light of the sword dispersed, blood was already splattered.
His momentum was as strong as a rainbow, and he continued to advance with his sword, attacking the next enemy soldier like a mountain bearing down on him.
The image of Shusuke Kondo seems like a completely different person.
On weekdays, he always presents himself as "lazy" and "suffering from injuries".
Without explanation, people who don't know would never guess that he is a swordsman.
In fact, I wonder how a swordsman who can become the head of a clan in a school that pursues practical combat can be a soft persimmon?
Although he is an old man who is over seventy years old, in the first sixty years of his life, his life has been calm and comfortable, which is almost impossible to describe in detail.
Before the outbreak of the "Black Ship Incident", Japan under the shogunate was not a prosperous country, but fortunately, no major wars occurred.
Without war, there would naturally be no opportunity for swordsmen to show off their skills.
No matter how good your swordsmanship is, it will be useless. You can only wield the bamboo sword in the sword hall and teach the skills to your disciples.
Therefore, in terms of actual combat experience alone, Kondo Shusuke, who has lived a peaceful life for most of his life, is not rich.
Frankly speaking, today is actually his first time on the battlefield.
But judging from his current performance, he doesn't look like a newcomer at all, more like a veteran who has been on the battlefield for a long time!
When you first enter the battlefield, you can kill the enemy with ease, and the fighting methods are very diverse, and you are not limited to one move or one move.
When there was no time to adjust the blade, he directly hit the enemy soldier's head with the thick blade and smashed his skull.
Seeing an enemy soldier raising his musket, the black hole of the gun pointed directly at him, he grabbed the corpse at his feet to use as a human shield.
He would even pick up a musket that others had not had time to pull the trigger, and shoot down enemy soldiers in the distance with one shot.
After witnessing the various performances of Kondo Shusuke, Elodie felt her eyes widened and at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder: Could the old man's usual appearance of being as weak as helping the sick be just an act?
Just when an old man and a young man were taking the lead, Shimada Kui from behind suddenly shouted:
"Come on! The time for revenge has come! Drive the thieves out!"
As soon as he finished speaking with his front legs, he let out a louder roar from his back legs:
"Kill, oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"I want to avenge my father!"
"Thieves, go to hell!"
"The Eight Prince's battle is not over yet!"
With his sword in hand, Kui Shimada led a large group of soldiers to rush forward and join the battle.
The addition of new forces began to tilt the balance of the war towards the Tokugawa side.
Most of the sergeants who came to assist in the battle were injured and wrapped in linen. They went into battle after simple treatment.
It is worth mentioning that when they looked at the enemy soldiers in front of them, their eyes burned with blazing anger, as if they wanted to pounce on them immediately and bite off a few pieces of meat from these guys.
Yes, the soldiers stationed at the Akasaka Imperial Gate are none other than Shusuke Kondo, Elodie, Kui Shimada, and the remnants of the thousand-strong unit!
The strength of the Edo garrison was always seriously insufficient, with only three thousand men capable of fighting.
Every imperial gate in the "Thirty-Six Visits" must be guarded by troops.
After all, God knows where the enemy will attack from.
If the entire defense line is not filled, there is no way to ensure the safety of Edo Castle.
In this way, the few troops will be spread over a vast defense line.
Although Katsurin Taro worked hard and deployed his troops to the limit, barely filling up the defense line and ensuring that each imperial gate of "Sansixikanfu" was garrisoned with a certain amount of troops, every place was weak!
It’s not an exaggeration to call it “walking a tightrope”.
Even the defenders of Yotsuya Mikado, which is located directly to the west of Edo Castle and is most vulnerable to major attacks, only have 300 elite soldiers... This shows how stretched the strength of the Edo defenders is.
Under such circumstances, any combatants who can be mobilized must be fought for - the remnants of a thousand people who have just retreated from the front line are a good target!
However, under the clear instructions of Tokugawa Iemo, Katsu Rintaro did not force the remnant of the thousands of people to join the battle.
They had just experienced a bloody battle in Hachioji not long ago, and before they had time to rest for a moment, they turned around and sent them into an even more intense battlefield... Even in the feudal era full of oppression and exploitation, this kind of approach was too outrageous.
…
Therefore, Katsurintaro adopted the "voluntary principle" for the remnants of the thousands of people who were united.
Those who are willing to go into battle will receive generous rewards.
Those who do not want to go into battle will not suffer any punishment.
Everything is based on personal wishes and will never be forced.
At first, both Tokugawa Iemo and Katsu Rintaro believed that there would not be too many people willing to go to the battlefield again.
The ferocity of the enemy and the horror of the battlefield have been deeply imprinted in their minds.
To shrink back because of timidity - this is common sense in the world and there is nothing to criticize about it.
Besides, they have done enough.
Their achievements and sacrifices made in Hachioji are worthy of being forever remembered by the shogunate and the people of Edo.
Even if they now retreat to a safe rear far away from the battlefield, no one can say anything.
However, it was later proven that both Tokugawa Iemo and Katsu Rintaro underestimated the enthusiasm of thousands of people to participate in the war!
The number of soldiers who volunteered to participate in the war greatly exceeded their previous estimates!
The reason is not complicated.
The offensive and defensive battle of Eight Princes lasted for five full days, causing heavy casualties to thousands of people, and countless villages and towns were reduced to dust.
The dead are speechless.
But there are still ways for the living to avenge them!
The flagrant intrusion of the French and French forces killed so many of them... This hatred was so strong that it was enough to make them forget fatigue, pain and fear.
In this way, the remnant troops of thousands of people enthusiastically signed up to participate in the battle, many of whom were injured.
It is worth mentioning that they made a request: let Elodie and Shimada Kui command them!
The stunning performance of Elodie and Kui Shimada in the offensive and defensive battle of Hachioji completely won the hearts of thousands of soldiers who were united.
Before that, thousands of people had always regarded them as "Western women who came to check accounts" and "guards with no sense of existence".
"Comradeship" is indeed a very wonderful emotion.
As long as they have fought side by side, even enemies that were difficult to deal with before will become much more palatable to them.
Now, to the thousands of soldiers who work together, Elodie and Kui Shimada are no longer inconsequential little characters, but leaders they are convinced of!
As a result, the remnants of the thousand-strong unit strongly demanded that Elodie and Kui Shimada continue to command them, and refused to accept any other commanders except them.
This request was not difficult to handle, and Katsurin Taro readily agreed.
He organized Elodie, Shimada Kui, the remnants of Thousand People Together, and Kondo Shusuke, who voluntarily participated in the war, into a temporary army, and then deployed it at the crucial Akasaka Mikado.
In this way, after the Eighth Prince, thousands of people joined forces to start a new bloody battle with the French and French coalition forces at Akasaka Mikado!
In the eyes of Elodie and others, this is undoubtedly the follow-up to the Eighth Prince's offensive and defensive battle!
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Edo, Yotsuya Tenryuji Temple, the Bell of Time——
The clock of time is the clock tower used to tell the time.
Beginning with the installation of a bell tower at Nihon Hashimotoshi 3-chome in Kan'ei 3rd year (1626), bell towers have been erected in more than a dozen places including Kan'ei-ji Temple, Senso-ji Temple, Ichidani Hachiman, and Yotsuya Tenryu-ji Temple.
Most of these bell towers are built in temples and are one of the tallest buildings in Edo Town.
At this moment, Shuten Doji stood on the clock of Yotsuya Tenryuji Temple, raised the telescope in his hand, carefully looked at the whole town of Edo, and scanned every battlefield with his eyes.
Although most of the direct participants are just wine bags and rice bags, as the population base is large, there will always be some exceptions.
There are some Zhishen who are still ambitious and have not lost their courage.
They grasped the weapons in their hands and spontaneously formed a wandering army, wandering around Edo Town, harassing, and hunting down lone enemy soldiers.
From east to west, from south to north, fierce battles could be heard everywhere, and blood was spilled all over the streets of Edo.
Shuten Douji didn't care at all about these difficult wanderers...or in other words, other areas in Edo Town except "Sanjujumitsuke".
The current battle situation is very clear: which side has the "Thirty-Six Views", which side wins!
Therefore, the rest of Edo-machi is irrelevant.
Shuten Doji focused his whole body and mind on the "Thirty-Six Miku" who kept shouting and fighting.
After a while, he slowly put down the telescope in his hand.
Katsura Kogoro, who was waiting beside him, saw this and immediately asked:
"How about Shuten Doji? Which imperial gate should we attack?"
The Shuten boy curled his lips and did not respond directly, but said quietly:
"Come with me."
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Edo, Akasaka Mitsuke——
If Qingden were here, he would probably be surprised after witnessing Elodie's heroic appearance.
After not seeing her for a while, her swordsmanship has improved by leaps and bounds!
In the past, she was a very typical "dojo swordsman". Every movement and every move she made showed that "she has never been in actual combat".
The path of martial arts is the path of Shura.
Only by experiencing the tension of hanging by a thread and struggling desperately on the boundary between life and death can we take a step further!
The ever-changing, fierce battlefield where you either die or live makes Elodie grow up rapidly unconsciously.
My steps are becoming more flexible.
Sword skills are gradually improved and redundant movements are eliminated.
Facing various attacks from the enemy, she slowly accumulated more and more experience in dealing with them.
At the same time, she began to develop the "combat intuition" that every martial arts master possesses.
Even without looking carefully, she could subconsciously predict which attacks needed to be dodged, which attacks needed to be defended, and which attacks needed to be ignored.
This is the kind of growth you won’t get even if you wield the bamboo sword tens of thousands of times in a clean and tidy dojo!
Of course, after all, Elodie is just a woman, with innate and irreparable deficiencies in physical fitness.
Until now, she felt that her lungs were swollen and painful, and her limbs... no, all the muscles in her body were aching, as a silent protest.
She silently moved to a safe area, wiping the sweat off her face, adjusting her breath, and resting for a while.
——Huh? Strange...
At this time, she was surprised to find that the enemy troops had retreated.
The enemy soldiers, who were so brave until just now, are now slowly retreating!
No one climbed up the long ladder to Gaolimen anymore. They left quickly and quickly disappeared into the surrounding streets and alleys.
Looking at the enemy troops retreating quickly, the soldiers did not doubt that they had it. They thought that the enemy troops could no longer hold on, so they cheered to celebrate the short-term victory.
The enemy has retreated... On the surface, this is certainly a good thing.
But... for some reason, Elodie felt her chest was clogged, and an ominous premonition filled her heart...
Suddenly, she suddenly noticed an unusual sight out of the corner of her eye - she saw eight large trolleys speeding towards them at the end of the street directly opposite the Royal Gate.
Dozens of enemy soldiers struggled to push these vehicles, and the wheels spun very fast.
It can be clearly seen that every trolley is fully loaded.
However, they were all covered with straw mats, so it was difficult to see what was hidden inside.
Elodie didn't know what these carts were carrying, nor why the enemy soldiers pushed these carts toward the royal gate.
But at this moment, her heart beat hard and sounded a powerful warning signal: Never let these trolleys get close to the royal gate!
She shouted without thinking:
"Archers and musketeers come forward! Kill those pushing carts!"
Her voice immediately attracted the attention of Kondo Shusuke, Shimada Kui and others.
They followed Elodie's gaze as they looked at the strange "convoy" outside the royal gate, and like Elodie, they all vaguely sensed that these trolleys were unusual!
Shimada Kui raised his voice:
"Quick! Stop them!"
Blah blah blah...
With the rapid sound of footsteps, the archers and musketeers quickly stepped forward, and barrages and arrows flew out immediately.
However... shooting has always been a very difficult skill.
It’s not easy just to hit a fixed target, let alone a moving target?
Obviously, none of Akasaka Mikado's defenders had such superb shooting skills.
Most of the projectiles and arrows hit the ground, hitting only a few people.
This level of interception cannot stop the convoy from approaching...
Although they were extremely anxious, Elodie and the others could only watch helplessly as the convoy gradually approached.
The enemy soldiers placed these carts directly under the Goryeo Gate of the Akasaka Imperial Gate, and then fled as if they were running away.
Suddenly, a gust of breeze blew open the loosely covered straw mat on a certain trolley.
At this moment, Elodie and others finally saw clearly what these carts were carrying - large wooden barrels.
Vaguely, Elodie smelled a familiar smell... the stench of gunpowder!
At this moment, on the roof of a house diagonally opposite the Akasaka Imperial Gate, Shuten Doji raised the bow and arrow in his hand.
He slowly opened the bow, tightening the string while aiming at the barrels.
The arrows he used were not ordinary arrows, but flaming rockets.
After stretching the bow string like a full moon, he curled up the corners of his mouth with an expectant look on his face and softly recited the cheering slogan that Japanese people often shout when watching fireworks:
"Jade~house~(TA~MA~YA)"
The next moment, he released the bowstring - the rocket shot out! It drew a red afterimage in mid-air and hit a barrel on a cart.
Then--
Boom!!!
The earth-shattering and terrifying loud noise took away the hearing of everyone at the scene!
The moment the rocket touched the barrel, a horrific explosion hit the entire city gate with a surging wave of flames.
The Goryeo Gate of Akasaka Mikado swayed a few times and then collapsed!
Bricks, stones and wooden tiles fell down... Countless dust and smoke rose upwards...
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Edo, Edo Castle, Ohiroma——
Tokugawa Iemo and Tenjoin sat side by side on the main seat, looking ahead expressionlessly while listening to the sounds coming from the "Thirty-six Mitsuke" and other battlefields.
They know nothing about military affairs and would not be able to help even if they wanted to.
Therefore, the only thing they can do now is to wait here, while constantly listening to the latest battle conditions in various battlefields, praying to the gods for victory, and wishing the soldiers good military fortune.
Just then——
Boom!!!
This sudden explosion was so shocking that even the mother and son in the Ohiro room of Edo Castle could hear its sound, and could vaguely feel the tatami beneath their feet shaking slightly.
Tokugawa Iemo's expression suddenly changed:
"What's going on?"
Soon, the guard sent him accurate news:
"Your Highness! The enemy destroyed the Goryeo Gate of Akasaka Imperial Gate!"
Upon hearing this, the pupils of mother and son suddenly shrank into pinhole shapes.
Tokugawa Iemo asked:
"Where are the defenders at Akasaka Mikado? Are they okay?"
"It's not clear yet!"
"..."
Tokugawa Iemo gritted his teeth, and his cheeks were filled with a cloud called "dignity."
"...Iemo."
Tianzhangin suddenly turned his head and cast a firm look at Tokugawa Iemo.
Although she said nothing, Tokugawa Iemo had already understood the meaning of her eyes.
"..."
Tokugawa Iemo closed his eyes and remained silent.
After a while, he clenched his two fists that were hanging naturally, and then forcefully opened his eyes - a bright light flashed in his eyes, as if he had made some kind of determination.
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